The present invention concerns the tapware sector and refers in particular to a group of two or more components, such as a mixer valve and a pressure regulator, to control the flow of water in hot and cold-water mixer taps.
Taps to select a flow of hot, cold or mixed water usually include a body which houses a mixer valve which can be connected to a pressure regulator. The mixer valve usually has a cartridge with two reference pins for fitting into the tap body, and the pressure regulator is positioned separately, below the mixer valve with a fluid connection to the latter. Furthermore a non-return valve and possibly a hot and cold water flow inverter, depending on needs, can be placed at the water influxes of the pressure regulator. All these components are separate and are inserted and placed one at a time into the body of the tap. This assembly method is however unfavourable above all when the tap requires maintenance. In fact, the components placed below the cartridge may become jammed in the tap body and become difficult to access or remove. Whatever the case, the components must always be manipulated and disassembled individually.
The tendency at present to facilitate assembly and disassembly is to have the components enclosed in a single block making them jointly accessible. In order to meet this need a cartridge containing both a mixer valve and a pressure regulator housed in the same body has already been addressed, but with the disadvantage however that should there be a fault in one of the components, the other has to be sacrificed as well.
The object of the present invention is to correct the inconveniences of in the prior art and to provide a group of components, which are normally independent and physically separated, pre-assembled to form an assembly which can be inserted and removed simply as one unit from the body of a tap, without, above all, having to modify the normal structure and operating method of each component and with the possibility when needed of separating and replacing a component without this effecting the others.
The object is achieved by superimposing and assembling as a pack at least a mixer valve and a pressure regulator and screwing them together before inserting them in the body of the tap.
In accordance with a particular way of execution, two or more superimposed components, such as a mixer valve, a pressure regulator, non-return valves and/or a flow inverter, are superimposed and screwed together, the heads of the screws acting as references for correct positioning of the resulting group in the body of the tap.
According to another way of execution of the invention, at least two components, such as a mixer valve and a pressure regulator, each with its own casing, are assembled by forming the body of the pressure regulator to receive and enclose the mixer valve. In this way the mixer valve and pressure regulator form a single accessible and easily insertable/removable block in a tap body.
The pressure regulator may be one of any of the known types, but according to another aspect of the invention it is an improved piston regulator.